A Purpose
by Flipper Boid Skua
Summary: Discovering Hopper's fate, Thumper's at a loss of what to do. Where in the world can an insane pet grasshopper find a purpose in life? Follow Thumper's adventures and misadventures as he struggles to find a place where he can belong. R&R!


Disclaimer: I don't own A Bugs Life or any of their characters.

My first A Bugs Life story. I've been submitting a lot of Land Before Time fanfics, and thought it'd be fun to take do something a bit different as a kind of...'side-project'. I'm surprised that A Bugs Life has so few stories...

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_Chapter 1_

Seems that not everyone was accounted for. The sun was just rising as the gang of grasshoppers lingered in a branch of a tree, far from Ant Island and far from their sombrero home. The rains have stopped not too long ago and that was a relief...to some extent, since the grasshoppers were far from happy; scared would probably be the more ideal term. The ants had turned on them and many were convinced that they barely got away with their lives. All the more disconcerting, their leader was nowhere to be found. Surely he escaped the ants, right? But then again, he would be here if he did, wouldn't he? Maybe he was lost or something; it was the most logical assumption they had.

"What should we do now?" one of the grasshoppers asked. The others muttered amongst themselves, not too sure either before one spoke up loud enough to be heard.

"Maybe we should send someone to look for Hopper." he suggested, the others growing silent, horrified looks growing on their faces. After all, if one wanted to search for their leader, they would have to risk going back to Ant Island, and that would probably end badly.

"You mean go back there? No way." one rejected.

"We'd rather not get torn apart by ants, thank you." another agreed sharply.

"Well, I don't see you two coming up with anything better." the one who made the first suggestion shot back. This didn't help the stress of the cloud and they began bickering with each other, not one noticing the grasshopper isolating himself.

Thumper grunted and growled as he walked away from the others, as even he knew they weren't getting anywhere with this. Stopping at the edge of the branch, his piercing, ever shifting eyes looked off in the direction they came, back to Ant Island. Unlike the others, it wasn't the ants that frightened him, but that giant, ferocious beetle. Who knows if it's still there? That was the only thing really holding him back, but still... His Master's out there, somewhere and he was going to find him. None of the other grasshoppers was fit to take his place as far as this rabid insect was concerned. He was too much of a loyal pet to just wave off a situation like this; he had to find his Master, no matter the threat. He would just have to be very cautious and on alert for that giant beetle.

Looking back at the others, still arguing, he rolled his eyes and jumped off the branch, opening his tattered wings and flying off for Ant Island. The rain was over, but the air was still moist and small droplets of water began accumulating on his exoskeleton. He merely shook it off and kept going, not going to rest until he completed his self-determined mission. This was a first, being alone and thinking for himself. In some ways, it was pleasant, this feeling of freedom. But in many more ways, it was eerie and made him feel vulnerable. Without orders, he had no purpose for himself and having no purpose could fill anyone with dread.

Pausing in a hover near Ant Island, above the water, he casted a look around, his journey back having little effect to his already frantic breaths. No sign of activity. He flew closer to the island, circling above it as he searched the ground below, gaze moving in jerks. Still nothing, but at least that means it's all clear to land. Doing so very cautiously in the clearing by the anthill, he scanned his surroundings once more for the giant beetle, tense and ready to take off should it suddenly appear. Yet again, it was all clear. Flexing his claws repeatedly in natural restlessness, he wandered about the clearing, keeping his distance from the underground opening of the colony as he didn't want to be caught off-guard by a horde of ants. The place was a mess, the fake bird still laying where it crashed and the circus items still scattered all about.

Hissing, he perked his antennae, sniffing out for the scent of his Master. The sensitive appendages picked up many scents and he quickly went through each of them, discarding the useless ones the instant they were identified. Finally, as he neared a cannon, he picked up the scent he was looking for. Giving a grin that would unnerve just about anyone, he followed the scent intently, trying to ignore anything else that got in the way. Taking flight, he tried hard to get as much olfactory information as he could, the rains having wiped out most of it. It's just a good thing insects had a great sense of smell or this search would've been a lot more difficult.

Flying through the branches of the tree and over the water, he lost the scent a few times and zig-zagged in an attempt to find it again before resuming his tracking. The scent was steadily getting stronger, he could tell, and it led him to the opposite bank. Landing, he took a moment to search the area before pausing. With wide eyes and lowered antennae, his color grew paler than usual as he looked up at a giant nest, the bird resident still sleeping. He had the urge to turn back quickly and he was just about to when his antennae practically shot up straight. The scent was very intense around here. But that didn't make any sense; Hopper's terrified of birds, as is every bug. Why would his scent be near the nest of his worst enemy?

His naturally cloudy mind struggled to grasp an explanation, but the only one that he managed to think of involved... No, that wasn't possible. This is Hopper, after all; the powerful leader of the gang, the bug everyone knew not to mess with. There was no way he could be gone. In denial, he took a huge risk and wandered around the nest, looking for signs that his Master made an escape. He even went so far as to risk waking the bird by flying into the air about it. But this only confirmed what Thumper didn't want confirmed. He picked up the scent again...from the monster's beak. He can smell the fear as well; normally the scent of fear appealed to him, but not this time. No, this time, it brought a choked whimper from his throat. There was no further denying it; Hopper was dead.

And it would seem as if he would meet the same fate. The bird opened its eyes with a stretch of its massive wings before it paused and stared right at the little grasshopper hovering in front of its face. Thumper was frozen, knowing he was literally looking death in the eyes, looking at his Master's killer. And he remained frozen until a snap jolted him out of it. The bird had made a grab for him and barely missed as the turbulence of the attack knocked the little insect onto the monster's beak. With a screech of fear, Thumper took off as fast as he could, yelping in sheer panic. He didn't want to look back as he knew the creature was pursuing him and instead, he put every ounce of power he had into his wings, which in turn buzzed so hard that it actually began to hurt.

But despite his efforts, the bird was catching up and it was only the wind at his abdomen that caused him to duck in time. The giant soared above him, so close that his claws grazed its feathers when he instinctively took a swipe at it. He was then buffeted by the resulting wind and sent crashing down to earth. Shrieking and snarling as he hit the ground, it took a moment for him to recover enough to make an attempt to crawl off to the safety of the grass. He was almost there when the monster landed right in front of him with its menacing chirps ringing through the terrified insect's antennae. Mustering his strength, he made a great leap as the bird's beak smashed into the dirt where he once stood. Landing smoothly on all six, he made no hesitation in making another leap, instinct snapping open his wings to fly a short distance before dropping unexpectedly into the grass. Gripping a large blade, he ducked underneath it and tried to silence his rattling breaths.

For a long time, nothing happened and he slowly began to relax enough to risk a peek. The bird was gone, probably back at its nest, and he let go of the blade to fly back to Ant Island, the closest place he recognized. Landing in the thorny tangle of a bush, he gave a growling sigh of relief to be alive. But even that sense was short lived and he let out another whimper. His Master was gone, never to return, and he was all alone. He didn't want to return to the gang; there was no point. He cared not for the other grasshoppers; the only one who carried any of his respect was his owner. No doubt the others would find a new leader to follow and if he returned to the gang, he'll have to make a shift in his loyalties to another insect. That was the last thing he wanted.

_'What should we do now?'_ That question muttered earlier stood out and he was vaguely asking himself the same thing. But the answer was already clear to him: Nothing. There was nothing he could do to change what happened and he had no idea how to spend the rest of his life if he wasn't to be following Hopper's orders anymore. There was nothing left for him. Still whimpering, his antennae went limp in sadness as he laid himself down carefully and curled up. His head resting on his longer set of arms, his eyes looked up as the sound of thunder rumbled through the air and the rain started up again. Luckily, he was sheltered and in no danger from the weather. If anything, it was only making his mood a bit more depressed and he curled up even tighter.

Normally his mind consisted of random, mostly violent thoughts that appeared and disappeared as frantically as everything else about him. With the majority of his life spent frightening and viciously attacking others whether on Hopper's command or for his own amusement, he hardly knew anything else, much less sorrow like this. He didn't know how to handle it, or how to deal with it. He couldn't exactly kill his own feelings and make them go away just like that; he couldn't solve this problem in his usual manner. No, he was stuck with it and the sadness it brought for who knows how long. Well, maybe sleep will provide an escape and when he wakes up, it'll all get better. Childish thoughts, but that was the best he had. Shifting a bit, still giving soft little whines, he tucked his head as much as he could under his body to protect his antennae from the cold and, hearing his own fast-paced heartbeats, he fell asleep...

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First chapter of this story. I really do love Thumper and wanted to have a story for him, as I don't know much, if any stories regarding this insane little bouncer. Hope you all like this and review if you want!


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